Updates

• Added info on Jimmy Ford, thanks to Volker Houghton. • Extended and corrected the post on Happy Harold Thaxton (long overdue), thanks to everyone who sent in memories and information! • Added information to the Jim Murray post, provided by Mike Doyle, Dennis Rogers, and Marty Scarbrough. • Expanded the information on Charlie Dial found in the Little Shoe post.
Showing posts with label West Memphis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label West Memphis. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Sylvia Mobley on Santo

Sylvia Mobley - If I Had You Again (Santo #502), 1962 

Sylvia Mobley has been present on the Memphis, Arkansas, and Nashville country music scenes steadily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she never found the acclaim she deserved. She worked with some of the most infamous figures of these scenes, though never achieving much commercial success. Some of her early recordings are now favorites in rock'n'roll record collectors circles and original copies can fetch up some money.

Born Sylvia Mae Robinson on April 28, 1941, in Marshall, Searcy County, Arkansas, she was one of four children of Charles Herman and Lois Marie Robinson. At the time of her birth, her mother was only sixteen years old. Supposedly in the late 1950s, she married Billy Sigman, with whom she had a son, Carson Vail. Her marriage with Billy Sigman obviously did not last long, as she had remarried by the early 1960s. Her new husband was Justin Lee "Bud" Mobley, who stayed with her the rest of her life.

In the late 1950s or early 1960s, Mobley once was managed by DJ, singer, and band leader Jimmy Haggett, who enjoyed some popularity in Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas. Haggett had ties to Memphis as he had recorded for Sun and Meteor during the 1950s and it is possible that he connected Mobley with the Memphis music scene. To start her career as a recording artist, Mobley made the trip to Memphis across the Mississippi  River and got the chance to record for one of the smaller labels in the city, Wayne McGinnis' Santo Records. McGinnis had been an artist in his own right, cutting a superb rockabilly disc in 1956 for Meteor, and had created his own Santo label shortly before Mobley arrived on the scene.

In March 1962, her first single appeared with a romping country rocker entitled "All My Myself", backed by "If I Had You Again" on Santo #502. Judging from the publishing and songwriting credits on the record, her debut for Santo was recorded at Slim Wallace's Fernwood studio and leased to Santo afterwards. Signs of success are not reported for this record but soon, Mobley made herself a name in the local country music scene. Her searing vocals seemed to be perfect for country music.

Sylvia Mobley and the Cotton Town Jubilee band live on stage, ca. mid 1960s
From left to right: poss. Bill Medlock, Jake Tullock, Mobley, Ken Burge, Johnny Duncan

By 1964, she had been discovered by Gene Williams, a local DJ, record label owner, and stage show host. He put Mobley on his Country Junction TV show that was broadcast from Jonesboro, Arkansas, and also gave her the chance to lay down some more recordings. Williams' right hand, Style Wooten, who later went on to become the "king of custom recording" in Memphis, produced another fine country rocker with her, "Every Time I See You", and the country weeper "Tell Me Clouds". Also involved in this production were DJ and singer Chuck Comer plus an unknown, Bozy Moore. The results were released on Wooten's Big Style label and distributed by Williams' Cotton Town Jubilee enterprise.

More or less simultaneously, Williams released "Are You Sorry b/w "Worried Over You" on his own Cotton Town Jubilee label (#113) in 1964 and followed up with a re-release of "Every Time I See You", backed with "I'm Not Alone Anymore" (Cotton Town Jubilee #115) in early spring of 1965. That same year, Williams paired Mobley with Memphis music stalwart Eddie Bond, who released a single on her on his Millionaire label, "Hearts Have a Language" b/w "In and Out of Love" (Millionaire #660S-0885). During this time, Mobley recorded songs from the pen of more or less familiar names. "Worried Over You" was written by Marlon Grisham (known in rockabilly circles for "Ain't That a Dilly" on Cover), "I'm Not Alone Anymore" by Chuck Comer, and "In and Out of Love" by Melvin Endsley, who also wrote the big hit "Singing the Blues" and was affiliated with Gene Williams at that time.

None of her singles so far had stimulated any success, which was probably due to the fact that promotion and distribution of the discs were limited on all labels. Around the mid 1960s, Mobley was still performing on the Country Junction TV show and recorded two more records for the Lake City, Arkansas, based Jeopardy label, which comprised songs penned by Leland Davis, an Arkansas based musician, and Glenn Honeycutt, a 1950s Sun Records artist.

By the late 1960s, she had made the move to Nashville, probably in order to give her career a boost in the capitol of country music. In 1969, she recorded a single for the once glorious Starday label, which had passed its heyday at that time already. In 1974, two more singles followed for the Villa label. In the mid 1970s, Mobley teamed up with famous guitarist turned producer Scotty Moore, lead guitarist for Elvis Presley and producer in his own right, and recorded a whole album for the Belle Meade label, "My Needs are You", which resulted also in a few more singles.

By 1976, after recording unsuccessfully for 14 years, it became clear that Mobley's chance of becoming a star had passed. However, she remained her ties with the entertainment industry, in a different sense though, and drove whirlwind bus tours across Nashville. She had one last album out on the Rays Gold label in 1984, entitled "Songs for Ma Ma".

In 2009, her husband died at the age of 76 years. Mobley, who had remained in the Nashville area, spent her last years at Elmcroft Assisted Living Facility and passed away July 10, 2017, at the age of 76 years in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

See also

Sources

Monday, April 2, 2018

Billy Bailey on CMC

Billy Bailey and the Country Drifters - Return from Viet Nam (CMC 1014), 1973

Here we have a Vietnam war era song, as there were so many back then. However, to my knowledge, it's the first war era themed song on this blog. The armed truce between the United States and North Vietnam came into existence in January 1973, so this record was a pretty up-to-date political comment.

Billy Bailey may have been the singer's real name or not, we do not know. If there's anyone out there who knew him, please leave a comment and delight us with his story. His band, the "Country Drifters," remain as obscure as the vocalist. Nevetheless, I sense a connection with another CMC record, as the Country Dirfters appear also on this record here (different singer, though). 

Read more on CMC Records:

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Billy Price on CMC

Billy Price and the Drifters - Two Different Worlds (CMC 745C-0932), 1968

Billy Price must have been a big Hank Williams fan, since he chose to cut two of the Drifting Cowboy's old numbers, "Two Different Worlds" and "You Win Again." Price's nasal voice seems to fit quite good to these songs and despite his limited singing abilities, the recordings come out quite enjoyable (mainly because of the background band, another reference to Williams).

Another discl from the chaotic numbered CMC label, owned by Dan Craft in West Memphis, Arkansas. See also CMC discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Cindy Price on Delta

 Cindy Price - Our Love Is Like Sunshine (Delta DR-1003)

Judging from the sound of this record, it was recorded and released in the 1970s. I wasn't able to turn up any info on Cindy Price, unfortunately, but the background band is credited as "Marianna Jamboree Band." It is likely this was the house band of the "Arkansas Jamboree" in Marianna, Arkansas, a live stage show that also included rockabilly musician Jimmy Evans and his daughter Debbie for years. Country music singer Truman Lankford was also part of that show for five years. The Arkansas Jamboree was produced partially by Jack Richard Northrup and also released a LP (see here). It is neither to be confused with the "Arkansas Jamboree Barndance" (later renamed "Barnyard Frolic"), which aired over KLRA from 1946 until 1960 in Little Rock, nor with the 1980s Arkansas Jamboree in Hot Springs.

Delta Records was one of the labels Dan Craft was operating out of his recording studio in West Memphis, Arkansas, which is located only 50 miles northeast of Marianna. Songwriter Harold F. "Buddy" Clements registered six different songs with BMI. Apart from that, he left no info behind. The publishing firm Jamdan also published compositions by Sonny Blake, who also recorded for Dan Craft.

Read more:

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Johnny Lee on Delta

 
Johnny Lee - Middle Tennessee Blues (Delta DR-1006), unknown year

Here's a record I have only little information on. The Delta record label was based - as shown on the label - on 1119 East Broadway in West Memphis, Arkansas. Here's an excerpt from Rachel Sylva's essay "Walk Through History: Downtown West Memphis" (see here) that deals with the historic buildings of West Memphis:
To the east of the "Home Away from Home" building at 1117 E. Broadway, there was a large 1-story building with at least 2 storefronts. Craft’s Record Store was located in one side at 1119 E. Broadway until 1977 (or 1979?) when a fire in the dress shop next door spread to their building and they were both destroyed. The Crafts had a recording studio in the back of the building at 1119 E. Broadway with a music store and insurance business up front.  
The Craft brothers were most likely Dan Craft and his brothers. Dan had at least two records released. One with Chuck Comer on Style Wooten's Big Style label in 1964 ("Date with the Angels" / "Secret Love", Big Style #104) and the other on Craft Records, which was probably his own venture. It featured "Gone, Gone, She's Gone" b/w "Don't Say Goodbye" under the name of "Dan and the Craftsmen / Vocals with the Craft Bros." and credited Gene Williams' Cottontown Publ. from West Memphis with publishing, thus it was released sometimes between 1962 and 1965.

The Delta label as well as CMC Records, which was operated from the same adress, were likely run by Dan Craft. Chuck Comer, Sonny Blake, Doug Stone, and others recorded for CMC. Memphis artist and radio personality Jim Climer (a friend of Eddie Bond's) recorded a gospel disc for Delta. I wonder of the producer of this disc, Stan Neill, was also Stan Neal, who was at one point a member of Eddie Bond's band in Memphis.

And Johnny Lee? Of course not the same Johnny Lee of 1970s country-pop fame. This singer performs two Jimmie Rodgers style recordings. In fact, the flip of this one is a cover of Rodgers' "Waiting for a Train." 

To the right 1117 Broadway and across the street in the left half of the picture
1119 Brodway, where Dan Craft's shop and studio was located.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Sonny Williams on CTJ, Part 2

Sonny Williams - Play Me a Country Song (Cotton Town Jubilee 116), 1964

Another interesting offering by Sonny Williams on the Cotton Town Jubilee label. Both "Too Much Competition" as well as its flip side "Play Me a Country Song" were written by songwriter Melvin Endsley, most famous for penning "Singing the Blues." 

Composer Melvin Endsley (1934-2004) hailed from Drasco, Arkansas, near Heber Springs. He suffered from polio as a child and was chained to a wheel chair all his life. While being at a Crippled Children's Hospital in Memphis, he learned to play guitar and after his return to Drasco, began performing on local radio. In 1954, he wrote "Singing the Blues" and held a first demo session in 1955 at the Hickory Studio, Nashville. Marty Robbins and Guy Mitchell had a big hit with "Singing the Blues" in 1956. In December of that year, he began recording for RCA-Victor, switched to MGM in 1959 and then to Hickory in 1960. He held one unissued session in 1960 for Eddie Bond's Stomper Time label and returned to Memphis for another session in 1965, this time for the Millionaire label (another Eddie Bond venture). From 1967 onwards, he recorded for his own Mel-Ark label. Listen to one of Endsley's RCA-Victor singles on Some Local Loser.

Read more:

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Sonny Williams on CTJ, Part 1

Sonny Williams - Foot Prints on the Floor (Cotton Town Jubilee 104)

Following up on my post on Gene Williams' own Cotton Town Jubilee release, here's another offering from this interesting record company. Sonny Williams had the first release on the label but today's disc was his second outing from around 1962, "Foot Prints on the Floor" b/w "I'd Give It All to Be with You." He would go on to release two more singles on the label. The A side is an uptempo country song, written by Bob Forshee, whose compositions were recorded also by other Cotton Town Jubilee artists. The flip is a weeper from the pen of Chuck Comer, an Arkansas DJ and recording artist (Vaden, Cotton Town Jubilee, CMC).

There were several singers that performed as "Sonny Williams". This one was born James Kirby Williams in Memphis. He also performed on Gene Williams stage show "Cotton Town Jubilee" (KWAM, Memphis, Tenn.). He is not the same artist that recorded for Coin, Raynard, USA, and Country Sound. 

Read more:

Monday, March 10, 2014

My Son in Service

 
Gene Williams - My Son in Service (Cotton Town Jubilee 95), 1965

Gene Williams and his Cotton Town Jubilee label were the subject of a post before. Today's selection is a short, spoken comment on the Vietnam war. Here's a little background information on Gene Williams, taken from my previous post.

Williams was born 1938 in Tyronza, Arkansas, and attended high school in Dyess, Arkansas. He started his career in the radio business in 1958 when he took a job as a DJ on KWAM in Memphis, Tennessee. Eventually he became also the station's sales manager and began promoting Grand Ole Opry acts such as Flatt & Scruggs. In 1962, he created a new Country music stage show he called "Cotton Town Jubilee," which debuted on January 27, 1962. It was a live show held at the Rosewood Theater in Memphis and broadcasted over KWAM every Saturday night, featuring local singers and musicians as well as guest stars from the Opry. James O'Gwynn was the first guest star to appear on the show.

Williams soon extended his activities by founding his own record company in the spring of 1962, the Cotton Town Jubilee label based in West Memphis, Arkansas. In addition, he also set up a music publishing company. The first record release was by Sonny Williams, a singer who was a regular cast member of the Cotton Town Jubilee show. Other Cotton Town Jubilee releases include discs by Cousin Jake & Uncle Josh, Sylvia Mobley, Chuck Comer, and others. On November 4, 1963, Williams debuted on KAIT-TV in Jonesboro, Arkansas with his new show, the "Gene Williams Country Junction Show," which eventually would run until his death in 2011.

Gene Williams' "My Son in Service" was the flip side to "Christmas Poem" by Kenny Owens. Released in 1965, both tunes were written by Norman Beal, who composed another Vietnam war related song in 1966 entitled "The War in Vietnam." The numbering of this disc is somehow a mystery. The label shows the number #95 as well as 723C-95. There was another record on the Cotton Town Jubilee label that fits into that numerical system. A disc by Charles Norris and the Magnolia Playboys has no number on the label but etched in the dead wax, showing #99. All other Cotton Town Jubilee records are numbered in a 100 onwards series.